tiny happy

I drew a winner for the Extra Curricular giveaway – and that person was Cécile – hooray! I'll be in touch with you soon, C. Thanks everyone for entering.

We have some brand new poppies in our garden. They've been trying to open for weeks, and then this week they suddenly came out – looking very beautiful like Spanish dancing dresses with lots of ruffles.

These poppies are extra special because they grew from a handful of seeds a friend gave me at the end of last summer. After I planted the seeds, nothing at all happened until a few months ago when these glorious poppies started gaining in strength.

I did some more miniature embroidery work to celebrate.

I hope you are having a good week so far!

The lovely little magazine Extra Curricular is coming to an end after 20 issues.

My friend Ellie has been making Extra Curricular since the beginning, and every beautifully-designed issue has featured Antipodean artists and their work, as well as recipes, tutorials and interesting thoughts. 

I was thrilled to contribute several times over the years – including a tutorial for a Christmas wreath and a sleeping mask, and a few other things.

For this issue, I designed and made a 'campsite flag' and you can read more about this in the magazine. Hand-embroidered and appliqued onto linen, the idea is that the flags can be customised to different families and places, and used as an indoor wall-hanging or outside to mark a spot.

You can read more about the last issue here at the EC blog.

Thank you Ellie for putting together this treasure of a publication over the past years, and for showcasing lots of creativity from our part of the world.

+ – + – + – +

I have an extra copy of issue 20 to give away. Just leave a comment below and I'll draw a winner on Monday.
Entries from anywhere in the world are welcome.

+ – + – + – +

I finally finished knitting Tom's socks. I really enjoyed making them, and I think that was due to the beautiful yarn ('Jetsam Sock') from Dark Harbour Yarns, and the pattern, which I think is a good basic one if you're starting out knitting socks.

Because i wanted to make the largest size, I used a contrast colour for the heel and toe to ensure I had enough yarn, and I really like the way they turned out. You can find a link to the free pattern and the yarns I used here on my Ravelry page.

Tom's a brilliant person to knit for as he's always enthusiastic about the finished piece, and interested in the process as it's being made. Due to my very slow knitting, I'm yet to be brave enough to knit him a pullover though – maybe next year!

+ + + + + + + + + + + 

I've recently discovered BBC Desert Island Discs, and if you click on the archive you can listen to chats and music choices with all sorts of interesting people – from Yotam Ottolenghi to Gloria Steinem. The interviews make excellent knitting-listening, too.

+ + + + + + + + + + +

Thank you for your comments on my last post – it's fun to host a quick weekend giveaway!

I drew three winners randomly – Lori, Kirsten, and Emily. I'll be in touch with you soon to find addresses, etc.

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + –

This afternoon Tom found these wild rambling roses peeking out from the top of a hedge in our garden, and got many scratches on his hands while cutting some for our bedroom. They're very scraggly but also creamy and beautiful.

Inspired by those and other floral offerings in our windswept garden, I've been working on some embroidered pins – the stitches are extremely small but I do rather enjoy working in miniature. I've set some aside for Christmas gifts and the others are in my etsy shop.

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + –

Thank you for dropping by here at my blog, and for your interest in my work. I really appreciate your company.

My brother-in-law Nick publishes a small quarterly journal called Watercoloured in which he collects together photography, poetry and writing about art and political ideas. You can read the journals on the website.

I've contributed a few things in the past, but included in the most recent issue is an interview I did with a local textile artist, Annie Mackenzie, who had an exhibition at Enjoy Gallery recently.

Nick's given me a few extra copies of this issue, and I thought it would be nice to send them out into the world so I'm hosting a little giveaway over the weekend.

I've wrapped them up with some mixed card sets (a bit like these) and a small watercolour painting in each package. Just leave a comment below if you'd like to enter the giveaway for one of 3 parcels (I can send to anywhere in the world).

Happy weekend ahead, dear readers,

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + –

I had a birthday recently and my friend Nikki gave me this beautiful shawl.

You might know Nikki's beautiful hand-dyed yarn but she's also a very skilled knitter.

I love my new shawl and have been wearing it often, even when it's been a bit too warm for wool. Luckily, Wellington offers wool-worthy weather year-round, so I know this will get a lot of use.

Nikki knitted it from Wollmeise merino DK yarn and the design is named 'spreading vines' (ravelry link here). I love the way the diamond pattern ripples out in an orderly geometric style – there's something very calming and interesting about it.

And of course, the colour: my favourite shade of blue/grey to mirror the Wellington winter sky.

It's quite an honour to be gifted something hand-knitted, isn't it? I've been lucky enough to receive many handmade items from my mum and a few from friends and the joy I feel makes me want to keep making things for others.

Also pictured above: one in-progress embroidery, a special order for someone on the other side of the world.

+ + + + + + + + + + + +

Here's a favourite new tune for your Wednesday: Y La Bamba: Ojos del sol.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + 

Thank you for the messages and emails checking in after our earthquakes this week. It's amazing to have people thinking of us from all around the world. 

We had quite a fright last Sunday with the arrival of a 7.8 magnitude quake at midnight, and aftershocks have continued since. The South Island town of Kaikoura has been badly affected and many people are still without power and water. Here in Wellington there has also been damage and buildings are being closed. Since the earthquake we've also had a storm with floods, so it's been quite a week..

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

Today however is calmer and the sun is shining, so everyone is happier. I even made some time for sock knitting and reading this morning. The socks I'm knitting very slowly have been a comfort to me this week, especially while at work – a bit of knitting in my lunch break has taken my mind off the aftershocks. Not that I needed another reason to knit!

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

I received a copy of the latest Organic New Zealand magazine, because there's a recipe from this blog on there – the trusty any-kind-of-fruit cake that I posted a few years back. It's a lovely magazine, especially if you're interested in gardening and food, and a bit of a thrill to see my cake in print – alongside some other lovely recipes including coconut yoghurt and kawakawa balm.

The cake pictured at the top of this post was made with cooking apples, and the recipe linked to above – it's a good staple recipe that has been very useful in my kitchen over the years. As the name suggests, you can make it with any fruit in season, but we particularly like it with apples and berries.

I hope you have a relaxing weekend, wherever you are, dear reader.

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

The world feels like a dark place at the moment.
Beauty, making things, the domestic… all feel trivial, really.

A friend posted this poem on social media and I thought it would be perfect to share here (thanks Clare!)

Good bones 

– Maggie Smith

This garment sat in pieces on my worktable for half a year or so before I got around to putting it together – but it's now happily constructed and ready to wear for spring.

I used some drapey, geometric-print cotton (origin forgotten) and the Scout Tee pattern which has become a firm favourite.

It's rather a terrible photo above but I wanted to include a picture of me wearing it with my new matching earrings, because I love them quite a lot. They were made by Davina Ewing from grey and cream clay and were a birthday gift from my friend K.

And while I'm talking about favourite things, I wanted to mention the beautiful new album by Auckland musician Anna Coddington: Luck/Time. Here is a link to Apples, which I think is very sweet and addictive.

+ – + – + – + – +

The print above is Little Bird by Tracey Emin. 

+ – + – + – + – +

Back in the middle of winter I found a small stash of mohair yarn in the op-shop next to my office. The best thing about it was its deep yellow colour, like honey. And the fact that I was on my coffee break and not expecting to come across such gold. 12 balls of it, to be precise.

My plan is to knit a honey-coloured blanket. A few years ago I was staying at a friend's house and she had a beautiful yellow mohair blanket on the bed – it was so light but warm and almost felted in texture. I don't really like mohair for clothing – it's a bit hairy and scratchy, but I think it will be lovely as a top layer on a bed.

I started making big squares to sew together but then changed my mind because I'd rather have a seamless piece. I'm knitting it on the bias instead – all in garter stitch for maximum squish factor. I'm using this pattern, similar to the one I made here, but bigger.

Needless to say, this blanket provides opportunity for mindless late-night TV knitting… I've just finished watching the latest season of Black Mirror (ok, I had to put the knitting down a few times during that) and started Shetland. Are you also a late-night TV knitter and if so what are you making? (and watching!)